For a government to ignore the unanimous will of an elected local council is a snub to the autonomy of local government, shows disdain for the will of the people and represents an insult to democracy. For a government to ignore the advice of its intelligence agencies represents a threat to national security. And for […]
Peter Mandelson’s intervention on China policy this week is profoundly wrong – and potentially very dangerous. During a visit to Hong Kong in which he met government officials, top businessmen and bankers, and gave a speech at the University of Hong Kong, Lord Mandelson claimed that the rule of law and the independence of the […]
Reading Tom Baldwin’s biography of Keir Starmer, our new Prime Minister’s passion for human rights comes through clearly. Not simply as legal theory, but the ways in which it impacts people’s lives. And his willingness to go the extra mile to defend human rights – involving many overseas visits to parts of Africa and the […]
The appalling scenes of a protester being dragged into the grounds of the Chinese Consulate in Manchester yesterday afternoon, apparently by Chinese consulate staff, and severely beaten, have rightly been widely condemned by Parliamentarians from all parties. The newly elected Chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Alicia Kearns MP, tweeted that: ‘The […]
Two days ago, former policeman and security chief John Lee – anointed by Beijing to replace Hong Kong’s current Chief Executive Carrie Lam – told a reporter there was ‘no need’ to ‘defend’ press freedom in Hong Kong because it ‘exists’. Yesterday, the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) of Hong Kong cancelled its annual Human Rights […]
For the first time in many years, we have a Foreign Secretary who has laid out a clear narrative for our foreign policy – and that narrative is ‘freedom’. Not since William Hague’s speech as Shadow Foreign Secretary 15 years ago, in which he pledged to put ‘human rights at the very heart of foreign […]
It won’t have escaped Liz Truss’ notice that she was appointed Foreign Secretary on the International Day of Democracy, and Battle of Britain Day. At a time when authoritarianism is on the rise and democracy is under the greatest assault since the Cold War, the values of liberty, human rights and the rule of law […]
The UK’s decision yesterday to impose Magnitsky sanctions against four Chinese government officials is extremely welcome, but long overdue – and not enough. It’s a good start, but we must hope it signals the intention of further action and not just a fig-leaf to critics of the Government’s China policy. Made in concert with the […]
Tomorrow, Tory MPs have to decide which is more important to them: their conscience, or career advancement. They have a chance to vote for an historic amendment that will end decades of dither over action to stop genocide, and in so doing to be on the right side of history. The Genocide Amendment to the […]
The arrest today of 53 Hong Kong democrats means only one thing: no one in Hong Kong now is safe. In the largest single mass round-up of pro-democracy politicians and activists in Hong Kong, the targets were not radical protesters but moderate democrats, pollsters and civil society activists whose only crime – if you can […]
When your closest friends are being bullied for standing up for the values you share with them, it is right to do everything possible to stand up for them. And when they are paying a price for defending the truth, it is right to stand with them. Australia is the canary in the coalmine for […]
More nails were hammered into the coffin of Hong Kong’s freedoms and autonomy last week, when the Chinese Communist Party issued an edict to disqualify any member of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council “if they support Hong Kong independence, refuse to acknowledge China’s sovereignty, ask foreign forces to interfere in the city’s affairs or in other […]
Sir Geoffrey Nice QC knows an atrocity when he sees one. He prosecuted Slobodan Milosevic for genocide and has been an expert on international human rights and humanitarian law ever since. He’s been involved in investigations into the Rohingya genocide in Burma, crimes against humanity in North Korea and allegations of forced organ harvesting of […]
Last week the President of the Czech Senate, Milos Vystrcil, stood before Taiwan’s parliament and, with echoes of John F Kennedy in Berlin 57 years ago, said: “I am Taiwanese”. “Kennedy said freedom is indivisible,” Vystrcil added. “And when one man is enslaved, all are not free.” Such a visit and such a speech are […]
After the genocides in Rwanda and Srebrenica a quarter of a century ago, world leaders said those fateful words: “Never again”. Less than three decades later, it’s ‘never again’ all over again in Myanmar and China. Experts have spoken out, but the world has failed to do anything other than wring its hands. Three years […]
The image of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai in handcuffs as two hundred police officers raid the offices of his Apple Daily newspaper, symbolises yet another brazen attack on Hong Kong’s rapidly evaporating civil liberties – and a death knell for press freedom. As the last Governor of Hong Kong Lord Patten said yesterday, “this […]
Earlier this month, the Chinese Communist Party regime broke its promises, violated an international agreement and destroyed Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms. In so doing, they provoked international outrage – sanctions from the US, a generous immigration offer from Britain, Australia and Canada, and the suspension of extradition agreements with Hong Kong by several countries. […]
When Andrew Marr showed Chinese ambassador Liu Xiaoming verified footage of handcuffed, blindfolded Uighurs being led onto trains, there was a long, chilling but electrifying silence from the ambassador. He had no answer. And when the BBC played a Newsnight interview with Uighur woman Zumret Dawut describing her experience of forced sterilisation, Liu initially refused […]
Britain’s response to China’s flagrant breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration has rightly been bold and generous. Bold, in that after too many years of kowtowing to Beijing, Britain has stood up for its values – and responsibilities. Generous, in that a “pathway to citizenship” has been offered to the three million Hong Kongers who […]
